Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Kings 9:31

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 31. Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?] Jarchi paraphrases this place thus: "If thou hast slain thy master, it is no new thing; for Zimri also slew Elah, the son of Baasha;" which words were rather intended to conciliate than to provoke. But the words are understood by most of the versions thus: Health to Zimri, the slayer of his master!

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Jehu’s revolution (9:11-10:14)

On hearing of Jehu’s anointing as king, Jehu’s senior officers swore their immediate allegiance (11-13). Without allowing time for news of the rebellion to leak out, Jehu set off for Jezreel (14-16). As he approached the city, Joram and Ahaziah, unaware of the rebellion, went out to meet him. Joram was killed on the spot, appropriately at Naboth’s vineyard (17-26; cf. 1 Kings 21:17-19). Ahaziah was killed after a chase (27-29). Jehu quickly went on to Jezreel to deal with the queen mother, Jezebel. Knowing she could expect the same fate as Joram, she prepared herself to meet the executioner with royal dignity. She died a horrible death, as the prophet had foretold (30-37; cf. v. 10).

The massacre continued. After arranging for the execution of Ahab’s seventy surviving male descendants in Samaria, Jehu displayed their heads as a warning to any likely rebels (10:1-8). He tried to make the people believe that the seventy had been killed directly by God, but they were probably not convinced. They well knew that the only way Jehu could make his throne safe was to kill all Ahab’s descendants. God’s earlier announcement of judgment on the family of Ahab gave Jehu the opportunity to carry out his plans (9-11; cf. 9:7-9). Since the late Ahaziah was a descendant of Ahab, Jehu killed Ahaziah’s relatives as well (12-14).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE DEATH OF JEZEBEL

"And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out of the window. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master's murderer? And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? Who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trod her under foot. And when he was come in, he did eat and drink; and he said, See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king's daughter. And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came back, and told him. And he said, This is the word of Jehovah, which he spake by Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the body of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so they shall not say, This is Jezebel."

REGARDING JEZEBEL

Like the apostle John who looked upon the Great Whore of Revelation 17:6 (KJV), I wonder with great admiration at this evil woman, who in spite of her wickedness was a woman of great strength and achievement in the eyes of men (though, not in the eyes of the Lord). She was not only a king's daughter, she was the wife of a king (Ahab), and the mother of one king (Joram), the grandmother of another king (Ahaziah), and the mother-in-law of another (Joram of Judah).

She manifested a great zeal for her pagan religion, and if the kings of God's people had been half as zealous to promote the true religion as she was to promote hers, she would not have been successful in the great corruption that she brought upon God's people.

It is to the great shame of the kings of Judah and Israel that their conduct was not such as could have been any encouragement to Jezebel to forsake Baal and cling to the true God.

She retained her queenly character up until the day of her death, and she died in the full regalia of her office, with her customary decorations such as the painted face and attired head (she probably wore her crown). She referred to Jehu as a regicide, another Zimri, reminding him that Zimri himself paid the penalty of his deeds.

It is a great pity that a woman of such gifts never learned the worship of the true God and that she died in the hopeless paganism in which she had been reared. One may well wonder, how many associates of Christians find their behavior such a deterrent that they, like Jezebel, continue in darkness, rather than turn to the Light that lighteth every man coming into the world.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter nine.

Elisha is an extremely colorful character. And we are coming towards the end of the career of Elisha, a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. And Elisha commanded one of the young prophets to go to Jezreel and there to take a cruse of oil and call Jehu, who was a captain of the host of Israel, into another room secretly, and there anoint him with the oil to be king over Israel, and then get out of there as fast as you can. So this young man came to Jezreel where Jehu was sitting with a bunch of the officers and all. And he said, "I have a message for you, O Jehu." And Jehu said...or he said, "I have a message for you." And he said, "Which one of us?" And he said, "You." And he said, "Come into the other room." And so he went into the other room and he said, "Thus saith the Lord, He has anointed you to be king over Israel." And of course, to replace the house of Ahab and Jehoahaz who was a descendant of Ahab. And so he poured this cruse of oil over Jehu and then he took off. When Jehu came out with the rest of the officers, they said, "What in the world was that guy all about? Man, he was wild looking. What did he tell you?" And Jehu said, "He anointed me with oil and told me that I was going to be the king over Israel." And so the guys all took their coats out and they made this stairway. They had him stand at the top of the stairs and they put began to blow the trumpets and say, "Long live Jehu king," you know.

And so he said, "Now look, you guys, really serious about this, don't let anyone go and warn the king what's happened." And so Jehu and the men headed then for Joram, who was the descendant of Ahab, who was the son of Jehoshaphat. And Joram at the time was recovering from injuries that he had received in a battle against the Syrians, and he was at Ramothgilead. And so in those days they had, of course, walls around the city and they had the guard towers, and guys would sit up there in the guard towers and they could see people coming from a long distance. And so this guard called down and he said, "There's chariots that are approaching the city. I can see the dust in the distance." So they sent out a messenger.

The king Joram said, "Go out and ask them if they are coming in peace." And so the messenger came to Jehu and he said, "Are you coming in peace?" He said, "What have you to do with peace? Get behind me." So the messenger had to get behind him. So the guy up on the wall said, "The messenger came to him but he's not returning." He said, "Send out another messenger and ask him if he's coming in peace." And then the guy said unto him,

the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi; for he driveth his chariot furiously ( 2 Kings 9:20 ).

My wife wanted to get me a license plate with Jehu on it. I don't think that's very charitable of her.

But at any rate, the second messenger came to Jehu. And he said, "Are you coming peaceably?" And he said, "What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me." And so Jehoram, Joram came out to meet him in his chariot with Ahaziah who was the king of Judah, who happened to be visiting him at Ramothgilead because he was sick. Ahaziah... and there was an affinity between Ahaziah... and actually there was a family relationship between the kings at this particular time.

And so king Joram came out and said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he said, What peace as long as the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? And Joram turned and fled and he said to Ahaziah who was the other king from Judah visiting him, he said unto him, It's treachery, O Ahaziah. And Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram in the back. The arrow came out through his heart. He sank down in his chariot and died ( 2 Kings 9:22-24 ).

And then they pursued Ahaziah and they injured him and he went to the city of Megiddo, and he died in Megiddo. And some of the men from Judah came to Megiddo, carried him back to Jerusalem, and buried him there in the sepulcher of David or the fathers in the city of David.

Then Jehu came to Jezreel where Jezebel was still, she was still alive. This wicked wife of Ahab who had led the Israelites into Baal. She had introduced the Baal worship to Israel. And so Jezebel, knowing that Jehu was coming, said unto him, "Did Zimri have peace, who slew his master?" She was looking out the window. Actually she painted her face and tired her hair and fixed up, and she taunted him sort of, "Did Zimri have peace, who killed his master?" They lifted up his face to the window. He called up there and he said, "Are anybody up there for me?" And there were three eunuchs that stuck out their heads. They said, "We're for you." He said, "Then throw that woman out." And so they threw Jezebel out and she came crashing down. Her blood spilled on the wall and upon the horse and he trampled her under the feet of his horse. And then he went on into the house and sat down and ate and drank. And he said, "A couple of you guys go out and bury her."

And they went to bury her: but they found nothing but her skull, and the palms of her hands and the bottom of her feet ( 2 Kings 9:35 ).

For the dogs had already eaten Jezebel there in the street. Now this is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Elijah against Jezebel declaring that the dogs would eat her in the streets of Jezreel. And so the end of the career of this extremely wicked woman.

It is interesting that women, it seem, have a capacity of deeper depths of depravity than do men. And I think the reason being is that a woman has a much finer tune emotional capacity. I believe that a woman is capable of higher heights than a man. I believe that she's capable of greater experiences of joy and excitement. But her emotions move on a broader spectrum than as a man. A man is more coarse in his emotions. His emotions move in sort of a rather narrow spectrum, a coarse spectrum. He's not as capable as of the great highs that a woman can have. And yet, a woman who turns to the opposite end and goes to the lows is able to go to the lowest. And it seems that the woman's temperament, being finer, has greater highs, greater lows. The man is more in a middle of the spectrum, moving in a coarser. His emotions are of a coarser make-up than a woman, not nearly as fine as is a woman.

And Jezebel is a classic example of a woman who has gone to the lowest. And of course, I think if you study history, a woman who has gone bad is capable of some of the cruelest things. Things that you would never dream of as you look through history. When they turn to the lower end of the spectrum. Jezebel is interesting in that in the book of Revelation, the church of Thyatira, which introduced idolatry into their worship, the whole introduction of idolatry into worship within the church (that is, setting up idols within the church) this church system that brought in idols as a part of the worship, the woman Jezebel, the name is related to this church system. So the Lord said to the church of Thyatira that "thou hast this woman Jezebel who caused my servants to commit fornication and idolatry. And I'm going to cast her into a bed, and into the great tribulation, unless she repents from her deed" ( Revelation 2:20-22 ). And those that commit fornication with her, being cast into the great tribulation.

Now, there are those who declare that the church is going to go through the great tribulation. Yes, a part of it is. The church that relates to that Jezebel system. So you know when people tell you the church is going through the great tribulation what part of the church they relate themselves to. I don't wish to relate to that part of the church. I would rather relate to the Philadelphian church who has "kept the word of His patience, and therefore will be kept from that hour of temptation that is coming to try men who dwell upon the earth" ( Revelation 3:10 ).

But the warning of the Lord, because "thou hast that woman Jezebel who causes my servants to commit fornication and eat things that are sacrificed unto idols. Therefore, I'm going to cast thee into the great tribulation or cast her into great tribulation. And those who commit fornication with her unless they repent of their deeds."

So, this wicked woman of the Old Testament who introduced idol worship, the worship of Baal to God's people Israel. The Lord makes the likeness of the introducing of idols in the worship of the church. I cannot understand how a person who reads the Word of God and really believes the Bible could establish idols within the church, even if they be idols of Jesus or the saints or whatever. Inasmuch as it is definitely prohibited under the law, and Jesus Himself declares His own feelings against it in His message to the church in Pergamos and Thyatira.

There has been in some areas of Mexico what I consider to be a genuine, true spiritual revival in the Catholic church. And I believe one of the evidences of the truth of the revival is that in this one area where this one bishop has really been born again and filled with the Spirit, he has had them removed all of the idols in all of the churches that are under his jurisdiction. And that thrills me, because I cannot, though I seek to be very accepting and broadminded, I cannot see the place of idols in a place of worship of God. Inasmuch as it has been so strictly forbidden, both Old and New Testament.

Jezebel, very wicked woman, her death, and being eaten by the dogs prophesied by Elijah the prophet and fulfilled at the hand of Jehu.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Jehu’s execution of Jezebel 9:30-37

Jezebel evidently painted her eyes and adorned her head (2 Kings 9:30) to receive Jehu. Unwittingly, or perhaps deliberately, [Note: Patterson and Austel, p. 209.] she prepared herself for her own death. At least one interpreter believed she was trying to seduce Jehu. [Note: S. Parker, "Jezebel’s Reception of Jehu," Maarav 1 (1978):67-78.] Her greeting to Jehu may have been a sarcastic, derogatory threat (2 Kings 9:31). [Note: Gray, p. 551.] She asked, "Is it peace?" as the two horsemen and Joram had (2 Kings 9:17; 2 Kings 9:19; 2 Kings 9:22). However she meant, "Have you established peace (by assassinating the king)?" She implied he had not by calling him Zimri. Zimri was the rebel who, about 44 years earlier, had assassinated his king, Elah, only to die seven days later at the hand of Jezebel’s father-in-law, Omri (1 Kings 16:8-10; 1 Kings 16:17-19). Jezebel implied that Jehu would suffer a similar fate. This interpretation seems better than that Jezebel saw Jehu as a rebel but complemented him on being the one who pruned Omri’s dynasty. [Note: Saul Olyan, "2 Kings 9:31-Jehu as Zimri," Harvard Theological Review 78:1 (1985):203-7.] Wiseman believed Jezebel wanted to reach a peaceful agreement with Jehu. By calling him Zimri she was not referring to Jehu as a traitor but as a hero (Ugaritic dmr). [Note: Wiseman, p. 223.] This seems unlikely to me. "Zimri" may have become synonymous with "traitor" by this time. [Note: Giorgio Buccellali, Cities and Nations of Ancient Syria, p. 203.]

"On the surface Jezebel’s actions seem contradictory. On the one hand, she beautifies herself as if to seduce Jehu, but on the other hand, she insults and indirectly threatens him with this comparison to Zimri. Upon further reflection, however, her actions reveal a clear underlying motive. She wants to retain her power, not to mention her life. By beautifying herself, she appeals to Jehu’s sexual impulses; by threatening him, she reminds him that he is in the same precarious position as Zimri. But, if he makes Jezebel his queen, he can consolidate his power. In other words through her actions and words Jezebel is saying to Jehu, ’You desire me, don’t you? And you need me!’" [Note: The NET Bible note on 9:31.]

In response to Jehu’s question, "Who is on my side?" a few officers (Heb. saris), who acted as harem attendants, threw Jezebel out of her upper-story window. The way Jehu treated Jezebel’s body shows his complete lack of respect for her. Rather than mourning her death, he feasted. He fulfilled Elijah’s prophecy of how God would end her life (1 Kings 21:23). She who had ordered the murders of Naboth and his sons died on the very ground she had stolen from them. This was the same plot of ground where Jehu had thrown Joram’s corpse (2 Kings 9:24-26). Yahweh and the godly people of Israel shared Jehu’s lack of respect for the queen. Jezebel had been responsible for much of the apostasy, wickedness, and consequent divine discipline that had plagued Israel for over 30 years. As always in Kings, the writer recorded the type of death a person died to document God’s faithfulness in blessing the obedient and cursing the disobedient. [Note: For interesting insights into the spirit of Jezebel and how to combat it, see Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds, pp. 97-120.]

When Jehu occupied Jezreel, he had not yet established himself as Israel’s king. Jezreel was only a secondary residence of Ahab’s royal family, after Samaria. [Note: Siegfried Herrmann, A History of Israel in Old Testament Times, p. 221.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And as Jehu entered in at the gate,.... Either of the city of Jezreel, or of the king's palace:

she said, [had] Zimri peace, who slew his master? Elah the son of Baasha king of Israel; no, he had not; he reigned but seven days, and, being besieged, burnt the king's house over him, and died, 1 Kings 16:10, suggesting that the like would be his fate, who had slain his master Joram; or the words may be rendered, "O Zimri, the slayer of his master"; calling Jehu so, because of his likeness to Zimri.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.   31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?   32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.   33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.   34 And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter.   35 And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.   36 Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:   37 And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

      The greatest delinquent in the house of Ahab was Jezebel: it was she that introduced Baal, slew the Lord's prophets, contrived the murder of Naboth, stirred up her husband first, and then her sons, to do wickedly; a cursed woman she is here called (2 Kings 9:34; 2 Kings 9:34), a curse to the country, and whom all that wished well to their country had a curse for. Three reigns her reign had lasted, but now, at length, her day had come to fall. We read of a false prophetess in the church of Thyatira that is compared to Jezebel, and called by her name (Revelation 2:20), her wickedness the same, seducing God's servants to idolatry, a long space given her to repent (2 Kings 9:21; 2 Kings 9:21) as to Jezebel, and a fearful ruin brought upon her at last (2 Kings 9:22; 2 Kings 9:23), as here upon Jezebel. So that Jezebel's destruction may be looked upon as typical of the destruction of idolaters and persecutors, especially that great whore, that mother of harlots, that hath made herself drunk with the blood of saints and the nations drunk with the wine of her fornications, when God shall put it into the heart of the kings of the earth to hate her, Revelation 17:5; Revelation 17:6; Revelation 17:16. Now here we have,

      I. Jezebel daring the judgment. She heard that Jehu had slain her son, and slain him for her whoredoms and witchcrafts, and thrown his dead body into the portion of Naboth, according to the word of the Lord, and that he was now coming to Jezreel, where she could not but expect herself to fall next a sacrifice to his revenging sword. Now see how she meets her fate; she posted herself in a window at the entering of the gate, to affront Jehu and set him at defiance. 1. Instead of hiding herself, as one afraid of divine vengeance, she exposed herself to it and scorned to flee, mocked at fear and was not affrighted. See how a heart hardened against God will brave it out to the last, run upon him, even upon his neck,Job 15:26. But never did any thus harden their hearts against him and prosper. 2. Instead of humbling herself, and putting herself into close mourning for her son, she painted her face, and tired her head, that she might appear like herself, that is (as she thought), great and majestic, hoping thereby to daunt Jehu, to put him out of countenance, and to stop his career. The Lord God called to baldness and girding with sackcloth, but behold painting and dressing, walking contrary to God, Isaiah 22:12; Isaiah 22:13. There is not a surer presage of ruin than an unhumbled heart under humbling providences. Let painted faces look in Jezebel's glass, and see how they like themselves. 3. Instead of trembling before Jehu, the instrument of God's vengeance, she thought to make him tremble with that threatening question, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? Observe, (1.) She took no notice of the hand of God gone out against her family, but flew in the face of him that was only the sword in his hand. We are very apt, when we are in trouble, to break out into a passion against the instruments of our trouble, when we ought to be submissive to God and angry at ourselves only. (2.) She pleased herself with the thought that what Jehu was now doing would certainly end in his own ruin, and that he would not have peace in it. He had cut her off from all pretensions to peace (2 Kings 9:22; 2 Kings 9:22), and now she thought to cut him off likewise. Note, It is no new thing for those that are doing God's work to be looked upon as out of the way of peace. Active reformers, faithful reprovers, are threatened with trouble; but let them be in nothing terrified, Philippians 1:28. (3.) She quoted a precedent, to deter him from the prosecution of this enterprise: "Had Zimri peace? No, he had not; he came to the throne by blood and treachery, and within seven days was constrained to burn the palace over his head and himself in it: and canst thou expect to fare any better?" Had the case been parallel, it would have been proper enough to give him this memorandum; for the judgments of God upon those that have gone before us in any sinful way should be warnings to us to take heed of treading in their steps. But the instance of Zimri was misapplied to Jehu. Zimri had no warrant for what he did, but was incited to it merely by his own ambition and cruelty; whereas Jehu was anointed by one of the sons of the prophets, and did this by order from heaven, which would bear him out. In comparing persons and things we must carefully distinguish between the precious and the vile, and take heed lest from the fate of sinful men we read the doom of useful men.

      II. Jehu demanding aid against her. He looked up to the window, not daunted at the menaces of her impudent but impotent rage, and cried, Who is on my side? Who?2 Kings 9:32; 2 Kings 9:32. He was called out to do God's work, in reforming the land and punishing those that had debauched it; and here he calls out for assistance in the doing of it, looked as if there were any to help, any to uphold, Isaiah 63:5. He lifts up a standard, and makes proclamation, as Moses (Exodus 23:26), Who is on the Lord's side? And the Psalmist (Psalms 94:16), Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? Note, When reformation-work is set on foot, it is time to ask, "Who sides with it?"

      III. Her own attendants delivering her up to his just revenge. Two or three chamberlains looked out to Jehu with such a countenance as encouraged him to believe they were on his side, and to them he called not to seize or secure her till further orders, but immediately to throw her down, which was one way of stoning malefactors, casting them headlong from some steep place. Thus was vengeance taken on her for the stoning of Naboth. They threw her down, 2 Kings 9:33; 2 Kings 9:33. If God's command would justify Jehu, his command would justify them. Perhaps they had a secret dislike of Jezebel's wickedness, and hated her, though they served her; or, it may be, she was barbarous and injurious to those about her, and they were pleased with this opportunity of being avenged on her; or, observing Jehu's success, they hoped thus to ingratiate themselves with him, and keep their places in his court. However it was, thus she was most shamefully put to death, dashed against the wall and the pavement, and then trodden on by the horses, which were all besmeared with her blood and brains. See the end of pride and cruelty, and say, The Lord is righteous.

      IV. The very dogs completing her shame and ruin, according to the prophecy. When Jehu had taken some refreshment in the palace, he bethought himself of showing so much respect to Jezebel's sex and quality as to bury her. As bad as she was, she was a daughter, a king's daughter, a king's wife, a king's mother: Go and bury her,2 Kings 9:34; 2 Kings 9:34. But, though he had forgotten what the prophet said (2 Kings 9:10; 2 Kings 9:10, Dogs shall eat Jezebel), God had not forgotten it. While he was eating and drinking, the dogs had devoured her dead body, the dogs that went about the city (Psalms 59:6) and fed upon the carrion, so that there was nothing left but her bare skull (the painted face gone) and her feet and hands. The hungry dogs had no respect to the dignity of her extraction; a king's daughter was no more to them than a common person. When we pamper our bodies, and use them deliciously, let us think how vile they are, and that shortly they will be either a feast for worms under ground or beasts above ground. When notice was brought of this to Jehu, he remembered the threatening (1 Kings 21:23), The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Nothing should remain of her but the monuments of her infamy. She had been used to appear on public days in great state, and the cry was, "This is Jezebel. What a majestic port and figure! How great she looks!" But now it shall be said no more. We have often seen the wicked buried (Ecclesiastes 8:10), yet sometimes, as here, they have no burial, Ecclesiastes 6:3. Jezebel's name nowhere remained, but as stigmatized in sacred writ: they could not so much as say, "This is Jezebel's dust, This is Jezebel's grave," or "This is Jezebel's seed." Thus the name of the wicked shall rot--rot above ground.

Kelly Commentary on Books of the Bible

We now enter upon the solemn stroke of judgment which it pleased God to execute at this time; first, within Israel, and at the hands either of men raised up in their midst, or from without, until at last it pleased God to sweep away the ten tribes from the land of their inheritance. An evil time may be one when God is pleased in His government to employ the rough instrument; and this is one principle of God's ways in His government that we do well to consider. God's employment of a man is by no means the seal of God's approval of his person. We see it in the case before us. Jehu was a man in whom God had no complacency, nor could He have. For there is one feature that belongs to the family of faith, without which there is no communion with God. This is shown from the very beginning of life in the soul, and that is, repentance toward God. And Jehu had not this. Whatever might be his zeal, and whatever, too, the righteousness, to a certain extent, of his action according to the sovereign will of God, he had no brokenness of spirit. He had never measured himself in the presence of God, and repentance is distinguished by this above all others, that whereas faith may be the perception of the truth, as no doubt it is, still it is not a mere mental one; for the door of all blessing to the soul is the conscience, and the Spirit of God awakening the conscience. Unless light enter by that door it cannot be trusted, and the way in which the entrance of the light acts is not merely to give the perception of God's character in a way in which it has never been seen before, but it always shows itself in dealing with the soul of him that sees God.

Hence, you never can separate real faith from real repentance; and as the one is the eye open to see God as revealed in His own Son in a way in which He was never seen before I am speaking now, of course, of the full Christian knowledge of God; the principle is the same all through, but still I use it now as applicable to our own souls I say that as faith is the eye that is open by the Holy Ghost to see God revealing Himself in Christ, so, along with that, the eye sees, spiritually, what it cannot naturally. It sees within as well as without; it sees backward as well as forward. It sees, not only the object of faith which God has presented, but, along with that, it invariably sees ourselves; and this is very often the way in which you will detect a faith that is not of God, because it is quite within the capacity of the human spirit to take a great deal of truth, and a person may be zealous for the truth, too orthodox after a sort as the apostle Paul speaks in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans of the unrighteousness of them that hold the truth in unrighteousness. And the word is particularly emphatic. It is not merely those that hold the truth loosely; they may be very tenacious, they may be exceedingly keen for points of dogma. And this is supposed in that place. It is persons that hold firm and fast the truth, but what is the good of it if it is held in unrighteousness? Hence, therefore, they come under a more than ordinary judgment of God. Unrighteousness anywhere is evil, but specially where the truth is held ever so fast in unrighteousness is it abomination. And, sorrowful to say, so it is always where the testimony of God is found. It was so in Israel, for they had the truth in a way that the Gentiles had not; and Christendom now has the truth in a way in which Israel had not. Hence, therefore, the apostle brings in the word as a most solemn warning, not merely as descriptive of what was already a past thing, but a solemn hint of that which was coming to pass.

Now Jehu was one of those. He had a perception of the truth to a certain extent. He had a horror of Baal, but he had no true care for God, and he proved it by this, that he had no brokenness of spirit, no conscience, therefore, towards God as to his own faith. Quick as lightning to see the failures of others and to judge them, particularly where their judgment would be for his own interest, Jehu drove furiously through all the Baal worship of Israel. This is the man that God was pleased to use for His execution of judgment in that day. Far different was the spirit of Elisha, but Elisha would accomplish the purposes of God, and therefore directs the young man, the prophet, to take the oil, for doubtless there might have been a hesitation. God gave spiritual judgment, if to any man, to His prophets, and there may well, therefore, have been hesitation both on the part of Elisha to send, and to the young man to be sent, upon such an errand. But there is one thing which answers all questions the will of God. God does all things wisely, all things righteously; and there is a suitability, too, when we come to think of the matter, that so very unlovely an instrument should be employed for so unlovely a work. Jehu, at any rate, is singled out and has his bloody commission entrusted to him. He was to deal with the whole house of Ahab; he was to cut off every male, he was to make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. He was to deal even with Jezebel, so that the dogs should eat of her in Jezreel, and there should be none to bury her. We shall see how punctually all was fulfilled according to the word of God.

Jehu then comes forth, and the captains asked in astonishment what had he to do with that "mad fellow" (2 Kings 9:11) a word we do well to consider for so a prophet appeared! a true prophet of Jehovah! This was his appearance to the eye of the men of the world a mad fellow. The world was just the same in Israel that it was afterwards in the days of the apostles, who were set forth, as the apostle so touchingly says, alas, as the off-scouring of all men! So they were regarded then. And, beloved friends, bear with me if I remind every one that is here, so, more or less, the scorn and contempt of the world must be just in proportion to our entrance into the mind of God now. Be not deceived. I admit that there will be a change, but that change has not yet come. The world is the same unchanged world now the circumstances, no doubt, varied. The texture, the colour of them may be changed a little, but the material is the same the real condition and relation to God just the same as before. I speak not of outward privileges, they are incomparably greater; I speak of the inner heart of the world. It is no better; if possible, worse. No doubt there will be a change, but that bright day is reserved for Jesus. He that suffered must have the glory. Till then we must be content to suffer with Christ.

We see the spirit of it in this prophet; in the contemptuous expression "of these captains about a messenger of God. Jehu answers, "Ye know the man and his communication." They were well known outwardly; how little inwardly! They said, "It is false; tell us now." He tells it plainly out. Jehu was not a man to keep a secret. "Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king." The very men that despised the prophet were well disposed to act upon the prophecy. Such is the spirit of man. The reason is evident: it suited their ambition, and, further, it made what even they could not but feel in conscience for man has a conscience whatever may be the wickedness of his life and they were well aware that what was now going on, both in Judah and in Israel, was utterly contrary to God. Although they had no feeling for God's glory, they could have contempt for false appearances, and, also, their spirit rose against the unrighteousness which was now enthroned in the throne doubly enthroned.

So then they at once proclaim Jehu king at the word even of him that they had just branded as "that mad fellow." And Jehu begins to act then against his master: he had now God's authority for it. The God that had raised up the king was perfectly entitled to cast him down. Jehu, therefore, was thoroughly right in acting upon the anointing of the prophet. And it is remarkable that Jehu is the only one of these many successors that, one after another, overturned the kingdom in Israel the only one that was anointed. In Judah the anointing was sanctioned of the Lord, no doubt, and we have no reason to suppose that it was not always acted upon, but not so in Israel. In Jehu's case it was. Jehu required this extraordinary act of the prophet to enable him to go forward, and to give him confidence, as well as other people about him. God was pleased so to invest him.

So king Joram was now returning to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, and Jehu at once proposes to pay a visit to his master. "So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there." At this very time, sad to say, the king of Judah was there too, and here we find a very solemn fact in God's government that if one who ought to be on the side of righteousness swerves from it into an unholy alliance with evil, he suffers according to the character of the evil he joins, and not of the righteousness that he may have previously possessed. This seems very hard, and there are many that cannot understand that God could deal so with those that have a measure of righteousness; but the truth is, the more we examine the principle the more we see how just it is. A sin is a sin whoever commits it, but whose sin is the greatest? Surely sin in a christian is worse than sin in an ordinary man who has no Christianity. Sin is always measured by the privilege of him who commits it, and consequently in Israel God Himself showed these differences. The sin of the priest that was anointed had a totally different character from that of one of the people; and the sin of a ruler was not at all to be met in the same way as the sin of one of the common people. So God, in His own people, showed that there were these differences; but even when you leave the people of God it is just the same.

Now the king of Judah then, who ought to have been as the lamp of God in the darkness of that night the king of Judah had chosen an evil association, for alas! the holy seed was polluted, and there was an alliance that boded evil that was now formed by the royal house. The king of Judah was in the company of the king of Israel. God permitted that they should be found together when the solemn moment came for judgment. The judgment must be shared by those who had sinned together. It was not only, therefore, Joram for whom, properly speaking, the blow was intended; it was not only upon him that it fell, but upon the king of Judah also.

The very same thing is true in the church of God. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. It is not merely that each particle requires to be leavened, but that that which contains the leaven is pronounced upon by God. Doubtless, if the leaven is allowed to work its way it will actually corrupt the whole lump; but God acts, and so should Christians according to the principle of the thing, and not merely the bare fact which comes out before the world. So we find in the most serious matters. Take the lady, even, in the Second Epistle of John she was responsible for the people she received. She might say that she was only a woman, and who was she to judge. Was it not a woman's place to be very unobtrusive? Yes, but it is a woman's place to be true, and, if she ought to be true to anybody, true to Christ above all. If she, therefore, received those who brought not the doctrine of Christ, her orthodoxy would be no shield. She is warned by the apostle that she became a partaker of their evil deeds. She may not have received the doctrine; it is not supposed that she had received the doctrine in that case she would have shared their guilt. But she shared the punishment because she chose to identify the name of the Lord in her person with those that were His enemies. Thus you see this great principle is found true in every part of the word of God, though it comes out most stringently in the New Testament, and most of all where it is a question of Christ, and not merely an ordinary evil thing. Now this is most righteous, because of all evils none so bad as that which touches Christ Christ, the spring of all that is good the only means of deliverance. When His name is made a cover for evil, and for that which destroys, how great is that darkness!

Jehu then rides on, and as they come, a watchman spies them; and after a little while, although messenger after messenger is sent without returning, it seems evident that it must be Jehu. His driving betrayed him. So the kings at last became disturbed, and Joram, wounded as he was, said, "Make ready," and he "and Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu?" He had his qualms. Well he might. "And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? And Joram turned his hands and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot." But it did not end there, for while Jehu told his captain to take him up and cast him in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite, according to the word of Jehovah, judgment did not fail to overtake Ahaziah as he fled. Jehu followed after him and said, "Smite him also in his chariot," and so he too dies at Megiddo. But this is not all. There remained a worse end for the one whose craft and violence had wrought such evil in Israel Jezebel. She painted her face, she fled to her old artifices; but they were all vain to preserve her. The hour of her judgment was at hand. "And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace who slew his master?" But Jehu was not to be alarmed or turned away from the dread commission that God had given him. And he lifted up his face to the window and asked who was on his side, and when the eunuchs showed themselves he commanded them to throw her down, and her blood, as it is said, was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trod her under foot.

What is remarkable, too, is this. The will of man has but little to do with the accomplishment of the word of God, for Jehu, now in the fulness of his power, relents somewhat towards this wicked woman Jezebel; and although he does say, "Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is a king's daughter" well, what had God said? The prophet had said, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her." Jehu had heard that word only a short time before, and he evidently showed that his intention was to fulfil his commission exactly; but how little man, good or bad, carries out the word of God. Now, apparently, the old sense of respect for one that was a queen a king's daughter rises in his mind, and he says, "Bury her, for she is a king's daughter." But the word of God had spoken its own command before. And they went to bury her. Their purpose was to obey him. In vain. They found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came again and told him, and he, convinced how mighty was the word of the Lord, said, "This is the word of Jehovah which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel." Thus had God accomplished it, and the blood of Naboth was avenged of the Lord most sternly. And the field was dearly bought, and wrested from the family. Had Naboth been slain? Had his sons failed to inherit? The king was slain too, and there is blood. So with the woman, the queen, who had stirred up her husband the king, and, further, the king's son. In every part sin meets its punishment.